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Belgium provided 170 million euros for humanitarian aid in 2017

Aiming to promote respect for humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law, Belgium spent 170 million euros on humanitarian aid in 2017, an amount that will remain unchanged in 2018. Our country also focusses on innovation in humanitarian aid.

The allocated humanitarian aid budget of 170 million euros was almost entirely used in 2017 (up to 99.99%). Thanks to a wide range of instruments and flexible financing, Belgium strengthens its position as a modern and innovative donor.

Different kinds of organisations, such as Belgian and international humanitarian NGOs or international humanitarian organisations benefited from the funding. Belgian and international NGOs received 25 million euros, a 6% increase compared to 2016. This represents 14.7% of the total budget. International organisations received 144.8 million euros, that is 85.3% of the total Belgian humanitarian budget. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) were the most-funded international organisations.

Regarding the geographical distribution, the Middle East received the most humanitarian resources, with more than 50 million euros. The crises in Syria and Iraq are most directly concerned, followed by those in Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Great Lakes region, and especially the DRC, benefited from more than 34 million euros support. Four countries characterised by a famine or imminent danger of famine in 2017 (Nigeria, Yemen, Southern Sudan and Somalia) together received 33 million euros.

In the context of the Grand Bargain, Belgium promised that it would dedicate 25% of its humanitarian aid to local humanitarian actors by 2020. Furthermore, the humanitarian budget will remain stable in 2018 (170 million euros) because of the increasing number of humanitarian crises. Analysis show that the priority crises in 2018 will occur in the Great Lakes region, the Sahel, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. The situation in Yemen, Iraq, Bangladesh/Myanmar, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Zimbabwe and Lebanon could deteriorate enormously in the course of 2018 and must therefore be carefully monitored.